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Kanye West

In 2007, Kanye and 50 Cent shared headlines leading up to the simultaneus release of both of their third solo albums, West's Graduation and Fiddy's Curtis. In an effort to spark a rivalry (and spur sales) 50 thre down a gauntlet. "If Kanye West sells more records than 50 Cent on September 11," he proclaimed. "I'll no longer write music. I'll write music and work with my other artists, but I won't put out any more solo albums." (50 would lose the sales-off, 957,000 to 691,000, but welch on his bet, releasing his fourth solo album Before I Self Destruct in November 2009.)

West, on the other hand, kept things classy. "50 is one of those rappers that I said was the end all be all of what rap what supposed to be. Like a true iconic rapper," he said in a January 2009 interview with Bossip. "He was my favorite rapper since Mase when he dropped, and when I used to be around him, he was one of the few people that I was like really fan of. I was nervous in the studio working on beats and hoping that I could do a good beat for him. ... So, for me as a fan of him, I felt like if he said something negative and tried to make it like I'm negative, it's almost like if a little kid walks up to you at the airport and is like, 'Man, I love you so much,' and then you spit on him. It's like, 'I don't know if I love you as much as I used to,' as you wipe the spit off your face, but you still play their music."

In a recent New York Times interview, Kanye also brought up J-Kwon and his track "Tipsy," saying, "People would think that's like a lower-quality, less intellectual form of hip-hop, but that's always my No. 1."